The best Greek Open tournament of the last years was Negroponte 2010. The open section was won by GM Suat Atalik who scored 8 points out of 9!, and the women section was won by his wife, Ekaterina Atalik, scoring 6,5 out 9 (link).  This year we were about to play in the tournament again but because of the known reasons the tournament could not take place. However chess enthusiasts of Chalkida had the opportunity to watch a satisfactory event although it was only for 3 days: the 1st husband-wife match in the history of chess!

Negroponte 2012 banner

Negroponte 2012 banner

Our match that took place between 7 to 9th of August, was organised by Chalkida Chess Academy. The first day we played 2 games with normal time control. The score after the first day was 2-0 in favor of the husband.

Ekaterina: “In the first game I played with with black pieces and from the very begging of the game I decided to play more risky. Since there is a difference of almost 150 rating points between us and Suat is obviously a stronger player than me, my only chance was to get positions with a lot of tactical possibilities. I think my tactics worked and I got a better position at some moment but in the time trouble I made a decisive mistake.”

On the second day when Suat won 3,5-0,5 the score has become 5,5-0,5. The opening game of the rapid match was probably the best game in the whole match.

Ekaterina: “Once again, after making some mistakes in the opening and passing through a worst position, Suat gave me a lot of chances to win the game. But as usual, once you miss the chance to win, it does not come back . So after a terrible fight it was a draw”.

Ekaterina: “So after being crushed so badly on the second day I became really upset. They always give an advise to play against the pieces not against the person in front of you. But after all, could anybody really succeed in doing this? So for me it was twice more difficult. Not everyday you lose so many games especially against your husband. The strenght of the character becomes obvious especially in the last rounds or after losses. Since, I have a big experience in losing many games in a row (unfortunately), it was not so difficult for me to gain my fighting spirit and strike back!”

At the end of the second day Suat gave a simul to the club players. The simul was played on 20 boards and lasted 2,5 hours. He did not show any mercy to his wife in the match nor to the kids in the simul by winning all of his games. Suat was very happy but lost a lot of energy that evening.

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

photo from GM Atalik's simultaneous exhibition

On the third day the blitz games were performed. Ekaterina dominated at the end of the match by scoring 2,5 points out of last 3 games.
Suat: “It was my luck that match would have been finished right in that moment”.

At the end even if Negroponte 2012 Open could not be organised, the 1st Husband-Wife chess match in the history took place in Chalkida. Organiser Giorgios Tsounis and Chalkida Chess Academy have shown traditional greek hospitality with the level of sponsorship, accomodation and tournament hall conditions provided. (here more pics come, dinner table, closing ceremony etc).

photo from negroponte

photo from negroponte

photo from negroponte

photo from negroponte

game start

game start

game with scene

game with scene

photo from lunch

photo from lunch

photo from game in progress

photo from game in progress

photo from ceremony

photo from ceremony

photo from ceremony

photo from ceremony